Finger holder for sheet material



A ril 14, 1942.

M. R. BRUBAK'ER 2,279,554

FINGER HOLDER F63 SHEET MATERIAL Filed July 11, 1940 INVENTOR flerm'njzBrazalez BY I. W ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1942 FINGER HOLDER FOR SHEET MATERIAL Mervin It. Brubaker, New York, N. Y.

ApplicationJuly 11, 1940, Serial No. 344,858

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to a novel and improved form of a finger holder for sheet material, and more particularly to an'ink-blotter holder which may be worn on a finger of the writing hand of a person and which may be used for blotting purposes while the hand is in its accustomed writing position.

The invention is especially adapted for conveniently holding ink blotters for use by accountants and bookkeepers. To insure neatness, ledger entries require instant blotting, and in accordance with the present invention, this may be accomplished by merely extending the little finger of the Writing hand forward while the hand remains in the writing position, still gripping the pen, until the finger blotter rests on the freshly written letters, words or figures. Since the device may be operated entirely with the writing hand, it also frees the writers other hand from the necessity of handling a blotter. This is of especial value to accountants and bookkeepers, since very often it is necessary for persons who are posting ledgers, or transcribing letters, words or figures, to use the hand which is not writing, as a guide on the sheet from which the letters, words or figures are being transcribed. If one is obliged to pick up a blotter this requires either taking the non-writing hand from its guiding operation or adjusting the hold on the pen in the writing hand, either of which is highly inconvenient and time wasting.

It has been proposed heretofore to secure or fasten blotting material to the hand of the writer by means of forming a holder from the blotting paper itself or by the employment of holders for the blotting paper, but such devices have not proved convenient or practicable, and in general have undesirably interfered with the normal writing operations, or have had a tendency to smear the work, so that substantially'no better results were obtained than if a conventional blotter had been used in the usual manner. Also, the devices heretofore proposed have been relatively large and cumbersome, and have been uncomfortable to the persons attempting to use them.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the disadvantages of the devices heretofore proposed for holding an ink blotter or the like, and to provide an efficient and unobtrusive means for holding an ink blotter which may be worn Without inconvenience and which does not interfere with the normal writing operation or position of the hand of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is a device of the character described, which may be Worn on a finger of the writing hand of a person, and which does not interfere with the remainingfingers of thehand, and in which likelihood of smearing the work is obviated.

A further object is a finger-blotter holder which is adapted to be worn on' the little finger of the writing hand of a person, and which may be brought into blotting position merely by extending the little finger and without requiring an adjustment of the hold on'the pen when in writing position.

Still'another object is a holder of the character disclosed, which is adapted to be'worn on a finger of the hand of a person, and having'meansfor carrying replaceable sheets or blanks of material which may readily be brought into operative position without interfering with the movements or position of the other fingers of the hand.

These and other objects of the invention .will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing of a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an ink-blotter device in accordance with the invention, as worn on the little finger of the writing hand of a person, withthe hand in writing position;

Fig. 2 illustrates how the little finger may be extended to use the blotter without disturbing the position of the fingers which hold the writing pen; i

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device removed from the finger;

, Fig. 4 is an end view of the device, looking in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 3, with the blotter removed; and

Fig. 5 isa plan view of the blotter used with the'device.

Preferably, and as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the device is formed from one continuous piece of light durable metal, for example, aluminum, bent in the form of a finger trough or channel, and extending in length substantially from the tip of the little finger back to the first joint of the finger of the writing hand It. The device has a flat rectangular base or bottom portion Ill of sufficient size to provide a blotting area of suflicient extent to be practicable for bookkeeping purposes. Extending from the base portion I0, and substantially at right angles thereto, are side walls I l, the upper edge of each side wall sloping downwardly from the forward end. I la, as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4,-to the rear end lib, to provide clearance for the adjacent finger of the writing hand so that the little finger and the adjacent fourth finger may readily pass each other without interference and may be kept in the most convenient positions when writing and when employing the blotter [2 carried by the finger trough.

The upper portions of the side walls are tapered inwardly toward the center of the device at the forward end Ila thereof in order to give snugness of fit and firm support, the rear edges I lb of the side walls preferably being perpendicular to the base [0. The sloping side walls, which make the rear end of the finger trough lower than the forward end, prevent the metal of the trough from interfering with any normal action of the finger next to the little finger, as it rests in its natural writing position. Flanges M are formed by bending the edges of the side walls downwardly on the outside, these flanges providing rounded surfaces at the uper edges of the side walls I l and also providing means for holding the blotting paper ii in proper position. The blotting paper is cut into small blanks, such as the one shown in Fig. 5, to fit the fingerblotter holder, the edges l2ai of the blank being inserted in the space between the flanges I4 and the upper portions of the side walls H. The blotting paper may readily be inserted by pushing one edge l2a in the space between one of the flanges l4 and its adjacent side wall II, and

then brought downward and across the base [2 and up between the side wall and flange on the opposite side, the dotted lines in Fig. 5 indicating Where the blotter is bent around the adjoining edges of the base l0 and side wall portions H.

The metal from which the trough is formed is sufficiently resilient or flexible to permit the portions lZa of the blotting paper readily to be inserted under the flanges I4, the latter coacting with the side walls to frictionally engage and hold the blotting paper in proper position.

To use the invention the writer merely slip-s the finger-blotter holder onto the little finger of the writing hand, starting at the rear end I lb at which the side walls I l are lowest and sliding the trough along over the finger until the rear is withdrawn to its normal position shown in Fig. 1, and when in this position it will be noted that there is no danger that the blotter surface will accidentally touch the paper, and thus likelihood of smearing the work is obviated. This entire operation is accomplished without the necessity of dropping the pen por adjusting the hold on the same or removing the hand from its normal writing position. Either the outer edge of the hand or the forearm of the writer normally rests on a support, when writing, and neither the hand nor the wrist need be removed from such support during the blotting operation.

Preferably, the thickness of the metal employed is such that the side walls Il may readily be pressed inwardly or spread outwardly, if necessary, to accommodate a smaller or a larger finger. While, as above stated, the finger trough or blotter holder is preferably composed of alu- 75 By reason of minum, it will be understood that it may be composed of any other suitable metal or alloy, or it may be composed of a nonmetallic substance, for example, a phenolic condensation product or a cellulose product, or other suitable material.

The device is well adapted for quantity production methods since it may be made by automatic die and stamping machinery, and thus may be made to sell at a low price. The blotter blanks, such as shown in Fig. 5, may readily be cut from larger pieces of blotting material or may be stamped out, as desired, and the thickness of the blotting material employed may be varied within suitable limits. Ordinarily, when a blotter of the conventional type is employed, only an edge of the blotter is employed by bookkeepers or accountants, and therefore the relatively small blotting area provided in the device herein disclosed will be found sufficient for continuous work over a considerable period of time. In the specific embodiment shown, with the base it! one-half inch wide and one inch long, experience has proven this blotting area to be sufficient for six hours of continuous ledger posting, the blotter preferably being reversed at the end of three hours in order to give a better blotting action. Since the base l0 and the portion of the blotter 12 adjacent thereto is flat, this eliminates the necessity of any rolling or other similar movement of the little finger to insure that the entire blotting area of the device is employed, and also obviates smearing of the wet ink.

The finger blotter works most conveniently when used on the little finger, in the manner illustrated in the drawing, but it may be used also on other fingers, either of the writing hand or of the non-writing hand, depending upon the nature of the work and the preference of the Writer" using the device. When worn on the little finger of the right hand, the blotter-holder is not obtrusive and does not interfere with the remaining fingers of the hand, and involves no discomfort or inconvenience; in fact, when thus worn the device is not noticeable by the writer to substantially any greater extent than a ring worn on the finger. Another advantage of the device is that, when not in use, it may be carried on the end of a fountain pen simply by slipping the device over the end of the pen generally in the same manner it is inserted on the finger.

The invention is especially applicable for holding an ink blotter, but obviously the finger trough may also be employed for holding other sheet material for different purposes, for example, an abrasive material. The invention is therefore not limited to the illustrative embodiment or use shown, and I do not desire to be limited except as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A finger holder device for sheet material, comprising a trough-like body having a substantially flat rectangular base portion, side walls extending from said base portion and substantially at right angles thereto, said base and side walls being shaped to receive the fingerof a person and frictionally engage said finger to releasably secure said device in operative position on the finger, the opposed free edges of saidv side walls being formed to provide an opening of such extent and configuration that when the device is worn on the finger it will not interfere substantially with the adjacent finger of the hand, said device having means for releasably securing on the outer surface of said base portion a, piece of sheet material in proper position to be operative by movement of the finger.

2. A finger blotter device comprising a troughlike body having a substantially fiat rectangular base, side walls integral with and extending from said base, said base and side walls being shaped to receive and be worn on the finger of a person and frictionally engage said finger to releasably secure said device in operative position on the finger, the front portions of said side walls being higher than the rear portions thereof to form slanting edges such that the device when Worn on said finger will not interfere with the adjacent finger of the hand, said side walls having means for releasably securing on the outer surface or" said base a piece of ink blotter in proper position to be operative by movement of the finger.

3. A finger ink-blotter device comprising a trough-like body having a firm, substantially flat rectangular base portion, side walls extending from said base portion and substantially at right angles thereto, said base and side walls being shaped to receive the little finger of the writing hand of a person and frictionally engage said finger to releasably secure said device in operative position on said finger with said base portion adjoining the outer side portion of the finger, the opposed free edges of said side walls being formed to provide an opening of such extent and leasably securing on the outer surface of said base portion a piece of ink-blotter in proper position to be operative by movement of the little finger.

4. A finger ink-blotter device comprising a trough-likebody having a firm, substantially fiat rectangular base, side walls of resilient material integral with and extending from said base, said base and side Walls being shaped to receive and be worn on the little finger of a personand frictionally engage said finger to releasably secure said device in operative position on the finger with said base portion adjoining the outer side portion of the finger, the front portions of said side walls being higher than the rear portions thereof to form slanting edges such that the device when worn on said finger will not interfere with the adjacent fourth finger of the hand, said side walls having resilient flanged portions for releasably securing on the outer surface of said base a piece of ink blotter in proper position to be operative by movement of the little finger of the hand while in writing position.

MERVIN R. BRUBAKER. 

